30 Comedies Every Woman Needs To See Before Turning 30

First of all, if you’re here to find a list of movies like Airplane, This Is Spinal Tap, Caddyshack, Office Space, or Ghostbusters, you’ve come to the wrong place. This ain’t that list. If you’re looking for a generic roundup of the generally agreed-upon films you should have in your comedy canon, might we direct you to this one from The Guardian, or this one from Time Out.

What you’re about to read is a carefully curated list of films that celebrate the more humorous parts of the female experience — for smart women who appreciate watching it in said way. If your favorite part of perusing Seventeen was always reading the Traumaraumas out loud with your friends, we feel you. This list is 100% your jam. Also, who among us hasn't flown too close to the sun by testing the absorbency limits of a tampon? It's all part of the learning curve, friends.

These movies celebrate all the joy, pain, and douleur exquise of the female experience in a way that’ll make you laugh, cry, and craugh (a new world we’re coining for laughing while crying). Because that’s what’s involved in being a woman sometimes: finding humor in even the most difficult of situations.

Some of the films are pure silliness. Others are extremely dark and subversive. This is the essential comedy canon, though, to make you silently sing, “I Enjoy Being a Girl” — and know that you're never alone on this, your female mortal coil.

P.S. In some cases, we’ve suggested an additional film with which to pair a given movie. Because, much like pretzels and frosting, some things just go better together, you know?

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Bringing Up Baby (1938)Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant

A delightful screwball comedy about a tame leopard named Baby who’s mistaken for a dangerous circus leopard; a paleontologist (Grant) who’s mistaken for a zoologist and therefore asked for help bringing up Baby; and a woman named Susan (Hepburn) who’s at the center of all the cases of mistaken identity.

A sheltered European princess (Hepburn) wanders off in Rome and is discovered by an American reporter (Peck). She decides it’s time to live a little fun. He decides it’s time to make some money. Falling in love ensues, obviously.

Two jazz musicians (Curtis and Lemmon) on the run from the mob in Chicago disguise themselves as women and join an all-female band en route to Miami. They both fall for the band’s singer/ukulele player (Monroe), but their entanglement with the Mafia isn’t over yet.

Judy Benjamin is a spoiled, sheltered 28-year-old who’s never experienced any hardship until her new husband (Albert Brooks) dies during sex on their wedding night. An Army recruitment officer (Harry Dean Stanton) convinces Judy that the military can provide the kind of sheltered family experience she’s used to. Obviously, Private Benjamin is in for a very rude awakening.

Pair Private Benjamin with the charming Troop Beverly Hills, in which an equally spoiled and sheltered woman (Shelley Long) decides to lead a troop of Wilderness Girls in Beverly Hills.

An extremely driven woman (Griffith) from Staten Island discovers that her boss (Weaver) is taking credit for her big idea, and she sets out to fix the situation. If you’re looking for another “ladies sticking it to the man and overcoming institutionalized sexism in the workplace” comedy (starring Dolly Parton!), cue up 9 to 5.

Veronica Sawyer (Ryder) hates the Heathers — the vicious, bitchy girls she pretends are her friends, who all happen to be named Heather. When sexy loner J.D. (Slater) moves into town, he goads Veronica into acting on her fantasies of murdering the popular people at their school together.

Two women who have been friends since childhood reach a crossroads in their lives when one of them (Heche) gets engaged, while the other (Keener) is still struggling to find her identity independently of the men she dates.

Two best friends (Kudrow and Sorvino) haven’t quite accomplished what they hoped since finishing high school, but when their 10-year reunion rolls around, they decide to concoct an elaborate fantasy life for themselves to impress their classmates.

High school seniors and best friends Enid (Birch) and Rebecca (Johansson) have no life plans beyond graduation besides getting an apartment together. They decide to meddle in a lonely man’s (Steve Buscemi) life, which results in a complete falling out between the two friends.

Annie (Wiig) wants to make her best friend Lillian’s (Rudolph) wedding the best day ever, but it’s kind of hard to be a stellar maid of honor when Annie’s own life is in a bit of a shambles. Enter Helen (Byrne), Lillian’s new BFF from the country club set she’s about to join. Helen is one of those women who’s so perfect, you actually wonder if she ever takes a shit.

For a darker take on the whole wedding industrial complex, pair a viewing of Bridesmaids with Leslye Headland’s Bachelorette (2012).

Two madly in love 12-year-olds (Hayward and Gilman) flee their respective homes and run away together, throwing the people they left behind into a state of chaos. Pair this with any other Wes Anderson creation, really, but you’ll probably identify with Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow) in The Royal Tenenbaums the most.

It’s a cutthroat world out there on the college a cappella scene, and Beca (Kendrick) wants no part of it/hasn't even heard of it when she arrives at Barden University. Well cue up the “Since U Been Gone” audition montage, because someone’s about to get pitch-slapped.